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  1. In 2015, Canadian Level I to III air carriers reported 75.5 million enplaned passengers, up 4.5% from 2014. The domestic sector rose 1.6% to 41.3 million passengers, while the international sector (including between Canada and the United States) grew 8.2% to 34.2 million passengers. The passenger counts on scheduled flights reached 72.4 million (+6.6%), while the number of passengers flying on chartered flights declined 28.5% to 3.1 million, as a major charter carrier, CanJet Airlines, suspended its services on September 1, 2015. These air carriers recorded 176.3 billion passenger-kilometres flown in their scheduled and charter operations in 2015, up 5.5% from the previous year. The international sector (+6.8%) advanced at a faster pace than the domestic sector (+2.4%).
  2. After reporting a net income of $650.8 million in 2014, Canadian Level I to III air carriers reported a net income of $983.1 million in 2015. In 2015, total operating revenues reached $22.6 billion, up 1.3% (or +$284.2 million) from 2014. Total operating expenses declined to $20.1 billion in 2015, down 2.6% (or -$532.7 million) from the previous year, largely due to falling fuel prices.
  3. Canadian Level I to III air carriers consumed 7.0 billion litres of fuel (turbine fuel and gasoline) in 2015 and spent $4.8 billion to purchase the fuel. In 2015, fuel costs accounted for 23.7% of total operating expenses, down from 30.2% in 2014.
  4. In 2015, 89.1 cents of each operating revenue dollar were used to cover operating expenses. Aircraft operations accounted for the largest portion of each dollar, at 42.3 cents, followed by general services and administration (30.1 cents) and maintenance (11.4 cents).
  5. Total assets of the Canadian Level I to III air carriers stood at $23.4 billion in 2015, up 11.4% compared to 2014.
  6. The aviation industry’s earning power is reflected in the profitability ratios of profit margin, return on investment and return on assets. In 2015, the profit margin was 4.4% compared to 2.9% in 2014. This shows that every dollar of service sold in 2015 earned 4.4 cents of profit for the Canadian Level I to III air carriers. The growth in profit in 2015 compared to 2014 reflected the gain in operating income, which more than offset the increase in net non-operating expenses. Both return on assets and return on investment also showed increasing profitability within the aviation industry in 2015. The rate of return on assets went from 3.1% in 2014 to 4.2% in 2015, while the rate of return on investment went from 5.1% in 2014 to 6.4% in 2015.
  7. Total employment in the aviation industry declined 0.4% to 55,313, while total wages and salaries increased 4.3% to $3.9 billion compared with 2014. In 2015, wages and salaries accounted for 19.6% of the industry’s total operating expenses, up from 18.3% in 2014.
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